A recent trend in the food industry has been growing consumer demand for so-called “clean-labelled” or non-chemically modified ingredients. In applications where it is desired to thicken a food product such as a soup or sauce which is to be subjected to severe acid and/or heat and/or shear conditions during either its processing or its end use, chemically modified starches have traditionally been used since such starches are remarkably tolerant of such extreme conditions. These chemically modified starches are produced by various crosslinking techniques wherein a chemical reagent is used to form crosslinks in the starch and thereby alter its viscosity and stability characteristics at elevated temperatures. However, it would be desirable to develop replacements for such chemically modified starches which exhibit similar performance and yet would not be regarded or classified as chemically modified for labelling purposes.